Giorgos Andrianakos – an appreciation
Thanks to traveling I have been fortunate to meet people who made their mark in a quiet manner. It is those when you always appreciate in life and after death soldier on like quivering slow burning embers, in essence, life’s capsule of time shared with them. A dozen years ago I met a shy Nemean who with his brother Helias owned a gas station. It was no ordinary gas station as many farmers also got their hardware agricultural supplies. It was their broader reaching interests and services was such that it was one of the few social hubs where I would spend time listening in a town devoted to mostly farming the 2,500 hectares of Agiorgitiko grape. It was a window into local life.
Time has now come for these lines about the youngest brother. Originally it was our mutual interest in wine that bonded our friendship. He was a bachelor and chose giving to several good causes. When Nemea had nowhere to showcase their wine Giorgos Andrianakos converted one of their basement’s in to a wine library where you would find at least one label from all bottled wine addresses including obscure and unknown. It was always up to date and one of my sources of scouting emerging new blood. It may have been strange for foreign guests to go to a private house, I for one was grateful it existed where at least we could do a comprehensive wine scape introduction. It was one of several initiatives showing Nemean’s what they should do to promote their region. Eventually the generic body followed his example and set up a tasting office off the main square. His green sensitivities were such that he organically farmed his Manaki olives which produced delicious olive oil. He lamented that some of the potentially finest marl terraces just above Nemea’s valley floor were planted with olives and not vines, a view also echoed by leading vineyard specialists. Listening to clients, he introduced at their hardware store zeolithos(zeolite) a volcanic mineral mined in Thrace. He counseled farmers who had water retention issues to use zeolithos in managing their soils. His common sense counsel was proven right over and over again. His offerings went beyond his fellow stewards of the soil. He helped organize and sponsored chess tournaments. He encouraged local history research and paid for the publication of reference books authored by Xenofon Helias and Zoi Helia Daskala giving access of unknown important and useful in today’s world facts such as bringing to light the Neméa vineyard(1828) land registry from the Capodistrian archives in Corfu. Modern Greece’s first governor who actually visited Nemea for three days from Nafplio on horseback and advised them not to solely farm raisins for when the market collapses(which it did) they should diversify to also include wine bearing grapes and other crops.
During one of my visits GA informed that after years of attending gas pumps he had lost his sense of smell. He still had that boyish grin. His humane interest and generosity in giving back to his community with the still little-known deeds will continue to be revealed for years. Thank you and farewell Giorgos.